Equipment Money Pit

[Tamberav]

I would probably MacGyver (have someone 3d print stuff?) to make the reefi work in the t5's then you could do 3 or 4... then later down the road, if you wanted to ditch the t5, say bulbs getting hard to find, who knows... you just add a few more reefi... ofc you could also do that with meridians.

t5 is just hard to give up until you have to... or until you decide bulb cost and electricity isn't worth it.

A floating canopy is also a sweet solution to t5 hybrids.

 

[Treefer32]

My tank is built into the wall so I have cabinet doors hiding my lights. Sorta in a canopy. I could hook into the ceiling possibly. It's sheet rocked so really depends where there's something solid to screw into to do straight vertical hanging. I used a stud finder and screwed hooks into the wall on both sides to hang the AL fixture.

The lux "Upgrade kits" are almost as much as the lights. At $400 per fixture. $1200 to do them all and that's using 6 year old drivers and power cords. So, never know if something else goes that makes the $400 upgrade worthless.

Better off spending $600 for the reefi or $700 for the AI Hydra 68 Edge and know it's all new components and warranty.

According to Reefi the bracket I have on the hydra 52s would work on the reefi, just would need different or more screws to secure, but they assured me it would work fine.

 

[areefer01]

b. I reached out to AI and they now tell me (Evidently marketing materials have changed), that expected life expectancy is around 5-6 years.

Just a quick note to say they, AI, is not incorrect in what they are telling you. LED's do have a life expectancy and it is typically reported in hours. The overall life expectancy though will vary based on how we, the hobbyist, use and take care of them. That and of course design. Thermal management is vital.

Hobbyist display design plays a role here obviously. 1 light, 100%, will obviously have a shorter life than 2 lights running at 50% or the same lights using a parabola type schedule that ramps up and down with a short 100% operating peak.

 

[Science/G]

Invest in a par meter for when you do the light switch.

 

[JonoH]

I'll check with them. Sounds reasonable. It looks like their Hydra 52 inserts are $100 a pieces. If I need 9 of them that's $900 unless I'm missing something?

Yep...i have 7 Hydra 52HD's that i could upgrade but its almost more to do this than buy new lights!